Chapter 4

SCHOLASTIC TRIUMPHS
AT ATENEO DE MANILA
(1872-1877)
He studied in the Ateneo Municipal

~Formerly Escuela Pia (Charity

School) established by city government in
1817.
Rizal

Enters the
June 10, 1872 - Entrance Exam
Ateneo
 Father Magin Ferrando (College Registrar) - who refused to

admit Jose in Ateneo.

1. he was late for registration
2. he was sickly and undersized for his age
 Manuel Xerez Burgos, (nephew of Father Burgos)- helped

Jose to admit in Ateneo.

 Titay - owned the boarding house, and owed the Rizal’s

family the amount of P300.

Jesuit System of Education
 Promotes physical culture, humanities, and

scientific studies
 Trains the student’s character by discipline and

religious instruction
 ROMAN EMPIRE/Internos (boarders)and

CARTHAGINIAN EMPIRE/Externos
(nonboarders)
Each empires had its Ranks:
Best Student – Emperor
2nd Best – Tribune
3rd Best – Decurion
4th Best – Centurion
5th Best – Standard Bearer
Both banners were used equally in the classroom:
 1st defeat – left side of the room
 2nd – Inferior position on the right side
 3rd – Inclined flag was placed on the left
 4th – Flag was reversed and returned to the right
 5th – Reversed flag was placed on the left
 6th – Banner was changed with a figure of a

donkey
 Hemp Fabric Trousers

Striped Cotton Coat

rayadillo
Rizal's First Year in Ateneo
(1872-1873)
 June, 1872- first day of class in Ateneo
 Fr. Jose Bech- first professor of Jose
 He took private lessons in Santa Isabel College and

paid three pesos for extra Spanish lessons.

 He placed second
 Summer Vacation (1873)
 Visited his mother in prison at Santa Cruz
 He boarded inside Intramuros at No. 6 Magallanes

St.
 Dona Pepay was his landlady -an old widow with a

widowed daughter and 4 sons.

 Second Year in Ateneo
(1873–1874)
 Jose studied harder, and once more he regain his

lost position as an “emperor”

 At the end of the school year, he received

excellent grades in all subjects and a gold medal

 Prophecy of Mother’s
Release
 Rizal open up and told her about his dream . After three

months, she will be released in prison. Doña Teodora

smiled thinking that he was trying to soothe her but then
three months passed and Doña Teodora was set free.
By that time, Rizal was in Manila attending his class.
She went home in Calamba happily and was even more
proud of his son.
 Teenage Interest in Reading
 During the summer vacation in Calamba (1874)
 The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas- 1st favorite novel of

Jose
 Universal History, Cesar Cantu’s historical work
 Travels in the Philippines by Dr. Feodor Jagor- a German scientist-

traveler (1859 – 1860)

1. Jagor’s keen observations of the defects of Spanish Colonization and
2. His prophecy that someday Spain would lose the Philippines and that
America would come to suceed as a colonizer.
 3rd Year in Ateneo
(1874 – 1875)
Shortly after the opening of classes, his mother

was released from prison.

He failed to win the medal in Spanish because his

spoken was not fluent.

 4th Year in Ateneo
(1875 -1876)
June 16, 1875- He became an interno in

Ateneo.
Fr. Francisco de Paula Sanchez -inspired

him to study harder and write poetry.

 Last Year in Ateneo
(1876 – 1877)
He was truly "the pride of the Jesuits “
March 23, 1877- Commencement Day
At the age of 16 years old, Jose received the

degree of Bachelor of Arts with highest honors.

 Extra-Curricular
Activities in Ateneo
 An active member secretary of Marian Congregation a religious

society.
 a member of the Academy of Spanish Literature and the Academy

of Natural Sciences.
 Fr. Jose Vilaclara advised him to pay more attention to practical

studies such as philosophy and natural sciences but then he did

not listen to him instead, he follow Fr. Sanchez guidance in writing
poetry.
 Rizal also studied painting from famous Spanish

painter named Agustin Saez and sculpture from

Romualdo de Jesus.
 He was also engaged in gymnastic and fencing

due to his weak body. He continued the physical

training to Tio Manuel.
Sculptural Works in Ateneo
Carved an image of The Virgin Mary on a

piece of “batikuling” (Philippine hardwood)

Father Lleonart- requested him to carve an

image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

 Anecdotes on Rizal, the
Atenean
Felix M. Ramos – one of Rizal’s contemporaries

in Ateneo
Manuel Xerex Burgos – whose house Rizal

boarded shortly before he became an interno in

Ateneo
Poems Written in Ateneo
Mi Primera Inspiration (My First Inspiration) –
the first poem Rizal probably wrote during his
days in Ateneo.
He felicitates his mother on her birthday

expressing his filial affection in sonorous verses

In 1875, inspired by Father Sanchez, he wrote more poems
such as:
 Filicitacion (Felicitation)
 El Embarque: Himno a la Flota de Magallanes (The

Departure Hymn to Magellan’s fleet)

 Y Es Espanol: Elcano, el Primero en dar la Vuelta al mundo

(And he is Spanish: Elcano, the first to circumnavigate the

world)
 El Combate: Urbiztondo Terror de Jolo (The Battle:

Urbiztondo, Terror of Jolo)

In 1876, Rizal wrote poems on various topics:
 Un Recuerdo a Mi Pueblu (In Memory of My Town)
 Alianza Intima Entre la Region Y La Buena Educacion

(Intimate Alliance Between Religion and Good

Education)
 Por la Educacion Recibe Lustre La Patria (Through

Education the Country Receive Light)

 E Cultivero Y El Triunfo (The
Captivity and the
Triumph: Battle of Lucena and the Imprisonment of
Boabdil)
 La Entrada Triuntal de Los Reyes Catolices en

Granada (The Triumphal Entry of The Catholic

Monarches into Granada)
In 1877 he wrote more poems:
 El Heroismo de Colon (The heroism of Colombus)
 Colon y Juan II (Colombus and John II )
 Gran Consuelo en la Mayor Desdicha (Great Solace

in Great Misfortune)
 Un Diarogo Alusivo a la Despedida de los Colegiales

(A Farewell Dialogue of the Students)

 Dramatic Work in Ateneo
 Father Sanchez-his favorite teacher ask him to write a

drama based on the prose story of St. Eustace the Martyr

 Summer 1876 in Calamba, he wrote the religious drama

in poetic verses
 June 2 1876- finished the manuscript
 He submitted the finished manuscript entitled “San

Eustacio, Martir” (St. Eustace, the Martyr) to Father

Sanchez in his last academic year in Ateneo
 First Romance of Rizal
 16 years old, experienced his first romance
 Segunda Katigbak

- a pretty 14 years old Batanguena from Lipa

-sister of his friend Mariano Katigbak
-his sister Olimpia was a close friend of Segunda in La Concordia
College
-Segunda was already engaged to Manuel Luz
-Segunda returned to Lipa and later married Manuel Luz
-Rizal remained in Calamba, a frustrated lover, cherishing nostalgic
memories of lost love.